San Diego Report on Innovation Economy Still Shows Mixed Picture of Economic Recovery

Private Investment in Public Equities (PIPE) deals for more than $100 million. Two San Diego companies also went public through initial public offerings (IPOs) valued at $237.6 million.

—Researchers found that 1,094 federal patents were granted to San Diego researchers and inventors during the second quarter—a 22 percent gain over the 898 patents that were issued during the preceding quarter and the most patents granted in the past two years. Data for the same quarter last year was not included, but the Innovation Report says San Diego accounted for 17 percent of the patent applications published in California during the quarter and 12 percent of the patents granted.

—Venture capital funding of San Diego continues to drop, with the total VC investment of $171 million representing a 33 percent drop from the $257 million that flowed into San Diego during the second quarter of 2009. Venture capital funding went to 24 companies during Q2 of this year and 26 companies in Q2 of 2009. The report also notes that VC funding in San Diego was down nearly 70 percent from 2007 pre-recession levels, and had dropped 24 percent compared to the first quarter of 2010, when $226 million went to 31 companies.

—Overall technology employment in San Diego County has decreased about 3 percent over the past two years, while San Diego’s overall employment has fallen by 7.6 percent over the same period. New data from the National University System Institute for Policy Research shows … Next Page »